Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: The Dying World
by Last Warrior 7
Summary: In a desolate world slowly being corrupted by darkness, a lone Absol follows the Millennium Comet in his search for Jirachi in order to resurrect his fallen family. Pursued by his corrupted brother, he must fight against the odds in a death defying quest
1. Chapter 1

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

**THE DYING WORLD**

Chapter one

The night sky was simply brilliant, a blazing white display of beauty streaked across the ebony background, seemingly frozen in place. The magnificent comet stood out in contrast in the night sky, the mythical Millennium Comet itself. Tearing my gaze from the cosmic beauty in the heavens, I rose to my clawed feet and started forward again, my deep breaths coming out as visible puffs in the cold autumn night. I had to keep moving, there wasn't much time left, I had to find her, even if it meant traveling through the night. I couldn't let him catch me, for I was torn between feeling of revenge and my own desire to set things right. I shoved the memories of that terrible night from my mind, the night the millennium comet first appeared in the sky. The night, I lost everything.

"_My brother, how could you?"_

The forest was silent, the only sounds that could be heard were those of my footsteps upon the cracked earth. No wind rustled the brown leaves of the trees, no lone Hoothoot called out into the lonely night. All was deathly silent in fear, for _they_ are the ones who rule the night now. The Shadow Pokemon and their twisted brethren now taint the world, marauding at will, and often leaving no survivors. They are mutated, heartless apparitions that hunger for violence and destruction, resembling stronger versions of others of their kind. No one is safe. Anyone can become a Shadow Pokemon because everyone is born with evil in their heart. To be corrupted by a Shadow is a fate worse than death. Even in the day they wander fearlessly, but when night falls, even the strongest fear for shelter. Even the humans, the pathetic creatures that were once the masters of this world, fear the Shadow Pokemon. Dark Matter, the cause and product of Shadow Pokemon, now pollutes the world, slowly strangling it into oblivion.

That comet is my hope, my guiding light in this dark world. They say that when the Millennium comet appears in the sky, a being of great power appears and will grant a single wish to any who can find her. That was the goal of my quest, Jirachi. She was the only way I could set things right…

Then I felt it, a strange shiver down the length of my black, scythe like horn, a demon was near. Spinning around and bearing my blade like horn threateningly, I faced my attacker, the muscles under my snow white fur tensed and ready for combat. For a few moments, nothing happened as I glared into the darkness, the eerie silence only heightening my suspicions.

"Show yourself, demon!" I challenged, eyes still scanning the darkness. To my surprise, I heard the crunching of leaves behind me and I spun around to face someone I knew very well. An entirely jet black Absol with a serrated horn stepped out of the darkness, a faint purple aura resonating from its defiled body. I stood my ground, bracing myself mentally for the fight that was about to happen. This was it, he had found me at last, and there was no escape.

"Did you really think that you would be able to escape, brother?" The black Absol spat its malevolent, blood red eyes aglow in the darkness.

"You are no brother of mine, Fenris." I snarled, widening my stance and making the air around me agitated my whipping my horn around. Fenris suddenly lurched forward and interrupted my attack with a move so fast I barely had time to block his sword like horn with my own. Blades crossed, I growled and dug my claws into the earth and attempted to push him back, to no avail. He threw his head up, throwing me off balance and blasted me point blank with a Shadow Ball attack, flipping me on my back and sending me skidding back a few feet. I swore as I jumped to my feet, glaring violently at my brother who was standing in the same spot, an arrogant expression on his face.

Roaring a battle cry I charged him, scythe raised to cut his head off in one swing. I put all the strength I could muster and my own momentum of my charge into that slice, and he blocked it effortlessly. I strained and pushed but his blade didn't give an inch. With an evil grin, he overpowered me and slammed me back, his scythe rending a wound in my chest as she shoved me back. I flopped on my side a few feet away, winded from the brutal attack. While I was stunned, my demonic brother jumped over and pinned me with a clawed foot between my shoulders. I struggled, but it was no use. I was not strong enough to match my brother's newfound powers.

"If father was helpless to stop me, what chance did you think you had?" he mocked, leveling his scythe horn like a guillotine. In that moment, I realized the mistake my brother had made. Jerking my head skyward, the curved blade-like horn on my head stabbed his foot through the ankle. He howled and in his distraction I threw him off. Jumping back to put distance between us, I whipped up a whirlwind around me, leaves and other debris scattering in the wind. Fenris recovered from his brief distraction and his eyes narrowed in concentration as black lightning encased his serrated horn. I let images of mothers torn body and fathers bloody corpse fuel my anger as I transformed the howling wind into screeching, colorless blades of air. I snarled with savage fury as I continued to hold back the attack, condensing the numerous blades into a single blast of Razor Wind.

I howled and let the insane attack loose, aimed to cleave my brother in two. He waited until o let loose my assault before swinging his lightning encased blade horizontally creating a crescent shaped slash wave of crackling black lightning that sped towards my own attack. The two bladed attacked met with an unearthly screech of scorched air and screaming wind, creating a crash that ruffled both of our fur coats. For a moment, my attack held its shape before being cut through by my brother's unnatural Dark Matter attack. I frantically ducked as the horizontal crescent of energy passed over me. My best attack, worthless against the demonic power my brother now wielded.

"I told you it is useless to fight me brother."

"Like I would just give up!" I snarled back and before I could utter another word Fenris slammed into me with a quick attack, driving my breath out of me. I was knocked on my side and I rolled upon impact with the ground to dodge the descending blade that instead struck the ground. Getting to my feet swiftly, I slashed at him with my blade-like horn with the intention of cutting him in two. Instead of blocking my vertical strike like I expected, he side stepped my attack and tried to plunge his blade into my rib cage. I twisted to dodge and swiped at him with my claws, my strike leaving red furrows in his black fur. My attack didn't even cause him to flinch despite the wounds and he got in my face and blasted me with another Shadow Ball, this one hitting my chest as I tried to dodge.

I felt my feet leave the ground before my back slammed into the trunk of a tree. As I shook the stars from my vision, I saw Fenris's scythe become encased in black lightning again. It was only because I knew what was coming that I was able to dodge the vertical slash wave of black lightning that split the tree I had slammed into just moments ago, a horrible crunching sound echoed in the silence as the tree was no longer able to bear its own weight and fell to the ground. I tensed the muscles in my back legs and jumped back right as a Shadow Ball exploded in the ground in front of me.

The instant my feel touched the ground again I used Faint Attack, an attack passed down from my father, and briefly turned invisible as I leapt back to put more distance between us, working out a new strategy. Unsure of where I had gone, a random Shadow Ball detonated far to my right, then another. I used Faint Attack repeatedly putting more and more distance between us. I felt the strain to turn invisible get harder and harder as my stamina was running out, until I came to a halt at the edge of a sheer cliff. The rough strewn ground would make it difficult to dodge and move around, perfect. I strained my already tired muscles and spilled my energy out, causing the wind to whip around me like before. The wind was more stubborn and difficult to control this time, and beads of sweat ran down my back as I pushed on with the attack, causing the wind to form colorless blades. When the blades merged into one, I held back the attack and waited for my brother to come crashing out of the forest. I would have to be quick to catch him off guard; if I missed it would likely be over for me. My brother was stronger than me now that he was a Shadow Pokemon. Always before…I had been the bigger brother, the one looking after him... I shook my head, this was no time to get lost in memories, I had to win this fight or die trying. A nanosecond later, Fenris came charging out of the undergrowth, red eyes glowing and claws out as he ran.

And I hesitated to fire the blast that stood the chance of cleaving him in two. That hesitation was all he needed, for he saw me and let off a feral roar as he fired another one of his Dark Matter slash wave attacks at me. I swore, cursing myself for my hesitation and fired the Razor Wind assault at the approaching black crescent of energy. Like before, my brother's stronger attack cleaved through my own and sped towards me. It moved so fast, I barely registered raising my horn to block the attack.

I felt a massive amount of pain and vibration from the blade-like extension on my head as the brute force of the attack easily shoved me off the cliff. My head fell back as I started to fall; a deep nick had been cut into my steel hard blade from the attack. I felt the rush of adrenaline as I fell through the air, the world around me an undistinguishable blur. I hit the stony wall once, twice, and on the third time I felt something crack in me and then the ground rushed up to meet me. I instinctively tried to land on all fours, but I hit the ground so hard I rebounded before losing consciousness.

***The next day***

"_Damn cliff!" _was my first waking thought before the pain was unleashed upon my half conscious mind. My head hurt like hell, my side felt smashed, I was sure something had been broken on impact, but I had not found out what was broken yet, or what wasn't broken. Merely turning over on my stomach was utter agony, pain stabbing in my side. The thought that I had just fallen off a freaken cliff that high surprised me that I was waking up at all. Despite the pain, I focused my brain an sensed for Dark Matter, as my particular type was very skilled at finding. To my relief, I felt none. Either Fenris had lost track of me when I went over the cliff or thought the fall had killed me. Either way, I was safe for the moment, and I felt like shit.

Rain began to fall; soaking into my short white fur and making it cling uncomfortably to my skin. Great, even the freaken weather hated me at this moment. The first wave of sharp pain was fading and being replaced with a dull ache as the time dragged on. Despite the fact that dark gray clouds covered the horizon, I could tell the sun was up and high in the sky. Lightning crashed somewhere near me, this storm was getting bad, maybe I should think about finding shelter. I gritted my teeth and tried to stand.

"F***!" I swore as pain shot through my side and front right ankle and caused me to fall. This was bad, if my ankle was broken, then I would never find Jirachi or stay away from Fenris. Arrgg, this was so painful. It was then when I was trying to muster up the courage to stand again that I noticed a shiny black, blade- like object lying on the ground in front of me. I took a closer look and realized with dread what the broken object on the ground was.

It was my scythe shaped horn that had broken on impact with the ground from my fall. All I was left with was a six inch jagged spike on my head. That explained why I couldn't sense the storm. Without the sixth sense that I had been born with, I felt blind. My ability to sense coming disasters was fractured and my ability to sense Dark Matter had decreased a good deal. My horn would grow back, but it would take time, a lot of time that I didn't have right now. I lifted my gaze skyward and stared at the patch of sky where the Millennium comet would be tonight. I only had five days left now, I couldn't just waste time sitting on my ass, I needed to get the move on and find Jirachi before it was too late. Jirachi only appeared for one week, I had to find her…and bring them back to life, my family. Yet, even if my outrageous wish could be granted and I found Jirachi, one member of my family would still be gone forever. Once you became a Shadow Pokemon, there was no going back.

I pictured the brilliant image of the comet in my head, remembering that first time I had seen it. The very same night, I lost everything. That comet had appeared as a symbol of the end of the peaceful life I once lived, and the beginning of the nightmare I now endured. All because of the Shadow Pokemon, that was the reason for all of the misery everyone was facing, and no one could do anything about it.

The rain had stopped, leaving me and the surrounding area drenched. By this time most of my body's natural painkillers had kicked in, and I was done lying here in suspense that a Shadow would come by and end my life. I got up carefully, putting all my weight on my good legs and avoiding bending or twisting my torso. My ankle was not broken, only mildly sprained, I could keep going. Drawing upon a tiny trickle of energy left in me, I started scanning for a concentration of Dark Matter in case a Shadow suddenly appeared. I hobbled forward, saving most of my stamina for when I would have to fight. I willed myself to keep moving, to walk off the pain, for if I stopped now, I would likely pass out again. I was so focused on putting one foot in front of the other and searching for approaching Dark Matter, I literally bumped into someone.

"What the hell." I swore as the yellow and black mouse had walked strait into my injured side, causing the pain to flare up again. The pathetic yellow rodent fell on his butt after hitting me. I glared at the Pichu who stared back at me in wonder. Shouldn't the mouse be running for cover right now, I was an Absol, everyone is supposed to run away from me as some of my kind are unfairly blamed for the calamities we try to prevent. The Pichu opened its mouth and began jabbering super fast in an annoying high pitched voice while it stared at me.

"Wow, whatever happened to you, it looked like you got your butt kicked by someone. I've never seen an Absol before, I always thought they would be just a bit bigger, no offense. Aren't you supposed to have a cool looking black, scythe shaped horn on your head, oh my gosh you broke yours off how did that happen did you get into a fight with a rock Pokemon or something, they can be really painful to deal with sometimes. Hey I heard Absols can predict the weather, can they, can they? Is it going to storm again or will it be clear tomorrow. That must be so cool being able to detect coming disasters, I wish I could do that all I can do is shoot electricity, not that being an eclectic type is boring but anyway I also heard that Absols can control the wind. Is that true mister, it doesn't sound very true. Can you really make a whirlwind, I find that hard to believe, can you do it right – hey where are you going?" It said running after me as I attempted to hobble past the annoying yellow rat.

"Go away!" I growled interrupting the constant chatter of the Pichu. It changed subjects faster than a Kelcon could change colors. And God, it was so damn annoying.

"Where are you going, are you going back to your den, I lost mine can I stay with you. Yeah that's a great idea, after all two are better than one, what is your name my name-"

I ignored the annoying electric type that strangely seemed hell bent on following me. Why couldn't the damn mouse just leave me alone, my head hurt enough already without the useless chatter of the small, high pitched electric mouse that somehow walked on its hind legs instead of all fours like normal Pokemon. God, why won't it just stop talking.

"-and then out of no where this giant white star appears in the sky. I learn from a Pidgy that it is called a comet, but not just any, the Millennium comet. That's a cool name, the Millennium comet, so then I remembered that there is a Pokemon that I can't remember right now that grants wishes during this time. If you could have a wish, what would it be? Wait, do you think we are only allowed one wish, or can we have as many as we want? That would be so awesome, being able to have whatever you want. Wow! Did you see that tree we just passed, it was all twisted and gnarled and creepy looking. Is it because of Dark Matter, can trees become Shadows too, or do they just die like humans do when they are exposed to Dark Matter. Hey wait a minute you are a Dark type, I heard that they can sense Dark Matter a lot more accurately than even a Psychic type. Is it true, can you sense any Dark Matter coming from that tree-"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled finally losing my temper and blowing my top. This damn kid just won't shut the hell up, he just kept talking and talking and it was driving me insane. I seriously felt like knifing him with the six inch spike on my head and ditching him to get some godforsaken silence.

"What's your problem?" the Pichu asked in a all too innocent manner. I felt like lopping his head off.

"Why are you following me? Leave!" I growled. The kid just looked at me funny and puffed up his tiny chest. The kid opened his mouth to argue or say something but before he did I felt a sudden tingling sensation in the back of my head. Before I could say or do anything a twin Bubblebeam shot out and struck me and the Pichu in the face, causing me to stagger and the small mouse to go tumbling head over heels. You would think that small burst of water that resemble bubbles wouldn't hurt, but it felt like rocks pelting my face. I turned to face my opponent as the Pichu got to his feet and gasped.

A Shadow Crawdaunt emerged from the forest, towering over both of us with its black armored bulk. Shit, I had been so distracted by the kid that I failed to notice the Shadow coming for my blood. To make matters worse, it was not alone. Two Shadow Rattata came charging at me and the kid. The one coming at me jumped, and as it closed in on me I did an uppercut stab to its stomach while it was still airborne, impaling it upon the jagged six inch dagger I still had left. It shrieked and twisted once before going limp as it died. I threw it aside to see the other demon leap at the Pichu, who dodged the attack better than I expected. Its tiny tail lit up and it spun around, slicing the rattata across the shoulder with its tiny, iron-blade like tail, leaving a red gash that barely stopped the Rattata.

That wound was all the distraction I needed to slide my horn between its ribs, killing it instantly. I had maybe a seconds time before a Bubblebeam struck my injured side, causing me to fall to the ground and skid a bit. Damn it that hurt, my insides felt like they were getting poked my the sharp broken ends of my ribs. While I tried to get a hold of myself in my pain, the kid hunched over, causing static to erupt from his body as he built up his electricity before shooting it at the Crawdaunt.

The electrical attack missed entirely, striking a random rock instead. The Crawdaunt lurched forward and hammered the yellow mouse away with a sweeping blow from its claws, the Pichu going flying across the ground and bouncing once before tumbling to a stop. The demented crayfish Pokemon now turned its sights on me, moving forward on its armored appendages. I struggled to my feet, adrenaline hiding the pain as I sprang forward, slashing with my claws and my bladed spike. My claws scraped uselessly on its armor, leaving only shallow scratches in the thick carapace before it smacked me into the ground with its claw. I slammed into the unforgiving ground, stunned by the force of the blow. The Crawdaunt opened its other claw to finish me off and I braced myself for the impact.

A jolt of electricity surged through the Crawdaunt, which now flailed wildly as the lightning coursed through its body. I looked and saw the Pichu clinging on to one of its legs, unleashing all the electricity he could muster as he held on despite the flailing. In its seizure like movements as it was shocked, it tangled up its legs and fell into the ground, the yellow mouse barely avoiding getting crushed beneath it and slumped on the ground, panting. I wasted no time while it was merely stunned by the attack, before it could get up again I stabbed its torso through one of the chinks in its armor with my blade. I ducked under a sweeping claw that tried to smash into me and stabbed it under the chin where there was no armor. I expected the move to kill it, but I was thrown off its body as it shook itself and got to its feet, clearly in agony from the wounds I dealt it.

"Give it up and die already, demon!" I yelled as I jumped on its back and stabbed it right behind the star on its forehead, my horn vibrating painfully from punching through its armor. Still I had to fight to horn on as its claws tried to grab me but were not flexible enough. Why can't this thing just die already? My claws found a foothold on its shoulders and I flexed my back and stabbed it through the eye with my six inch horn. The crayfish finally died and suddenly fell over; I had to jump off its back as it collapsed. I checked _just to make sure_ it was dead before breathing deeply and turning away from the defiled corpse.

I swayed on my feet, a bit unsteady from all the exertion I had put my body through. The Pichu came running up to me, somehow already recovered from his earlier exhaustion of using all his electricity at once.

"That was so awesome, it was like 'No your dead stay down' as you kept attacking it. That was a tough guy wasn't it?" He said, having to stop talking to catch his breath, maybe he was still a little tired.

"Bah, whatever." I said despite the fact that if the Pichu hadn't shocked the Crawdaunt and saved my ass, I would be dead right now. That Crawdaunt had been one tough son of a bitch to take down, it just refused to die. The Shadow Rattata had been easy enough, so long as you didn't let them get close enough to tear you apart. Underestimating a Shadow Pokemon based on their species was the quickest way to die. I bet even a Shadow Pichu could be deadly. You couldn't take any chances with the Shadows; it was kill or be killed, or worse. I turned from the rapidly decaying Shadow Pokemon and strode away, limping a slight bit.

"Hey wait where are you going?" yelled the Pichu in an annoying high pitched voice, his constant chatter only broken by the fact he had to run to catch up to me. Arceus, I didn't want to deal with any more of his useless chatter. If he started jabbering again, I might lose my patience and just cut his head off and be done with it. My headache was killing me, even worse now that I had to fight a battle. I was an Absol, the world had decided that I was to be alone, why did this fool continue to follow me.

"For the last time, go away!" I demanded through clenched teeth , brandishing my horn spike. Arceous my head hurt so freaken bad, why couldn't I just have some peace. This kid was going to kill me with his constant chatter more painfully than Fenris could. The Pichu flinched at my display of aggression but somehow must have seen through my empty threat.

"You are looking for it too aren't you? You are searching for Jirachi just like I am because the Millennium comet is in the sky." He said.

"So what if I am!" I countered.

"We should travel together, it would be safer and so much more fun that way. We kick butt together, we are like the dynamic duo, killing the evil Shadow P- hey wait up!" He yelled as I attempted to walk away while he was talking. Travel with an annoying, small, hyper kid like him to find Jirachi, ridiculous. I didn't need anyone tagging along, I could take care of myself and Fenris was still after me, and anyone with me could be killed by him too. Unfortunately for me, the combination of broken ribs, sprained ankle, and sheer exhaustion didn't allow me to move very fast. Even when the kid easily caught up to me, I refused to accept it and looked forward stubbornly.

"You are going the wrong way you know." He said and I stopped.

"How would you know where Jirachi is? She is a freaken legendary who only appears every 1000 years!" I shot back now glaring at the kid who looked back with those large innocent black eyes.

"I had a dream-" he started and had to stop as he coughed a bit, probably still hurt on the inside from being knocked around like a soccer ball in the fight with Crawdaunt. Still he regained himself and started to speak again a few seconds later.

"That I was in a cave somewhere is those mountains, and Jirachi in all her glory, golden cloak and all, appeared before me." He said pointing towards a mountain range that was far to the right of where I had been wandering. He had a serious tone, which told me he was not just running his mouth or making something up. I grunted, what the hell, it is not like I know where to go anyway. Maybe it would help to have him come along after all. Unlike me, he knew where to go.

"Fine, but on the condition that you keep your mouth shut." I said. No sooner had I finished that sentence then he literally jumped for joy throwing his arms up and started rapidly talking back in that annoying tone.

"Don't worry, we will get along fine. This is so cool, it is just like the stories, the shady and antisocial Dark type and the valiant and awesome Electric type teaming up to save the world from evil, only we are looking for Jirachi instead of saving the world, but it is still so cool. This is going to be so much fun, me and…what's your name?" he asked halting his rapid onslaught to wait for my answer.

"Rikko." I said.

"I'm Piech, pronounced like the fruit, nice to meet you. That's a cool name, Rikko, usually Pokemon get their names from a variation of their species, like I heard of a Bulbasaur named Saura once. I guess that is different for Dark types. My name is really cool because it refers to the color my fur and it sounds like Pikachu and Pichu combined, not only that it reminds me of food too. I hate peaches, do you like them. They have those pits and all that makes them kind of unappetizing, even if they are sweet. I always liked berries…"

"_Will he ever shut up?" _ I wondered as I tried to tone out the useless chatter of Piech and tried to concentrate of searching for Dark Matter. Now I knew where to go, and I had someone to guard my back in combat. I was just one step closer to Jirachi. One step closer to bringing my family back from where my brother had sent them. I would find Jirachi first, then I would deal with my demonic brother, my little brother who was now dead to the world. Consumed by the darkness that was polluting the world, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. We can only survive, and continue to fight until the day the darkness claims us as well.

An ominous wind shook the trees and my fur coat, bringing with it the smell of ashes, and corpses. Somewhere, a city was burning...

* * *

><p>Review, tell me how I did.<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

**THE DYING WORLD**

Chapter two

_"Rikko, I don't think this is a good idea." Whined my little brother, looking hesitantly at the massive cave like structure that loomed before us and pawing the grass beneath his paws. The grass was all overgrown in the area and vines had laid claim to the faded gray rock, making an archway of a kind for the ancient cave. _

_ "You're not scared are you?" I teased with a smile looking at my smaller brother. His fur was a pristine white that looked like freshly fallen snow and made my slightly gray fur seem dirty in comparison. _

_ "I am not!" he boldly declared, puffing up his chest at the jab to his pride, not wanting to admit he was in fact scared. No matter what he did, he always seemed to have this aura of innocence about him, like someone who has yet to meet the horrors of the world. Laughing at him, I clacked the side of my blade horn against his making both vibrate a bit. _

_ "Then come on." I said and stated toward the entrance of the forbidding cave. The wind picked up and made the opening moan with an eerie sound. Fenris hesitated for a bit before following close behind me. The smooth stone felt foreign under my paw as I had grown up in a forest for my entire life, and was cold. The temperature seemed to plummet as soon as we stepped foot into the cave and the light of day was left behind. My eyes were already accustomed to the welcoming darkness as I was a Dark type, being submerged in darkness does not bring fear to me as it does to others. Fenris walked close by my side, head swiveling to and fro as he was nervously on the lookout for trouble. Before the light faded entirely in the dark cavern, his fur seemed to glow a bit with its pure white color. _

_ In the pitch black darkness of the cave, every sound seemed to amplify and echo endlessly. The sound of my own breathing felt deafening in this unnerving silence. We both heard the occasional flap of wings but none of the winged vermin attacked us. A small bit of light seemed to come from faintly glowing crystals embedded into the cave walls, their refined edges looking like spears in the darkness. The sight of these seemed to break Fenris of his fear and he was looking with wonder at the strange crystals, even going so far as to touch one. Noiseless trickles of water dripped from the ceiling down below, feeling like ice as they soaked into our fur. The bare rock under my claws was getting slippery with all the subterranean water. I paused for a moment to drink from a pool that held water so clear it seemed invisible unless you disturbed the mirror like surface. A few of the crystals that had grown underwater illuminated the pool, showing to be devoid of any aquatic life._

_ A faint thumping sound was heard as it echoed along the confined walls of the cave far away, making us both jump with the distant sound for a bit. I waited but the sound did not come again, it must have been my imagination. I fought a slight feeling of claustrophobia as I noticed the tunnel was getting narrower and narrower as it went along. The roof and floor were covered in teeth like stalagmites that gave the unsettling image of walking strait into a tooth filled maw. Shaking my head to rid the feeling I started forward again but noticed that Fenris was not following. I nudged him to snap him out of his trance and he jumped before following, looking nervously at the walls of the cavern as if they might close in on him at any moment. Twice I lost my footing as the rock got slick with water. There was so much water here, it must all drain somewhere, a river maybe. Again that thumping sound made us jump, but it was impossible to tell its source so I nudged Fenris forward again. The air was stale here, but the crystals were much bigger, so much so that you had to avoid getting skewered by their sharp points in the tight confines of the cave. _

_ The cave suddenly opened up into a large room like cavern with many more passageways leading out of the room. I was shocked, the chamber in this cave was big enough to hold entire trees, it must be humongous. A faint sound of moving air was heard in the cave, but neither of us figured out what it was. Fenris and I split up and started exploring the massive chamber. Fenris immediately walked over to a large unusual rock structure to investigate while I turned the other way. Heading off into a far wall, I ignored the heavy sound of moving air and found a lot of what looked like human relics in a messy pile. There was a large shattered Pokeball, a metal plate with numbers on it, a large piece of wood with compartments, a huge rubbery wheel, a metal cylinder that was hollow, large pieces of cloth, and much more. The majority of the stuff I had no name for, human ways were foreign to me, and father had told me that humans were dying out for some reason. Try as I might, that heavy sound in the background was getting on my nerves. What was it, the heavy sound of air moving? It was almost like- I suddenly realized with shocked horror what it was._

_ It was the sound of something very big snoring, and precisely at that moment the sound stopped and a huge glowing red eye opened up in front of Fenris. My little brother flinched back then ran as what he though was a pile of rocks suddenly rose up like a snake to stare down at him. A Shadow Onix, and a massive one. I knew very little about Shadow Pokemon except for what my father told me. Should I ever encounter a Shadow Pokemon, he told me to run as fast as I could in the other direction and get away. That is exactly what I did, making a frenzied beeline for the tunnel that had lead us to this chamber, the only one with the glowing Crystals. Fenris was frozen in fear for a bit until the Shadow Onix let loose an ear shattering roar that seemed to shake the cavern itself. _

_ It raised one massive rocky tail and swept it across the ground and smashed it into the tunnel, shattering the rock and falling rocks completely blocked the cave we had come from. Both of us skidded to a frightened halt and exchanged a frightened look before diving out of the way as the Onix's tail tried to hammer us into a bloody smear on the ground, splitting off in two different directions. My heart was pounding so much in my chest I thought it would just burst in a shower of blood as I ran in frantic terror around the giant chamber as the massive Shadow let loose another bone chilling roar that somehow swept me off my feet and sent me crashing into a nearby wall. _

_ "RIKKO!" Fenris screamed from afar but looked too scared to do anything but watch with a look of horror plastered on his face. The giant head of the Onix reared up and struck. Acting purely on instinct I jumped and my ears were deafened by the sound of crunching rock as the Onix's head smashed into the ground where I was a moment ago, the sheer force of the impact made me spin like a top before landing on an injured foot. Disoriented from the near miss, I tried to figure out why I was here, and which way was up before the glowing red eyes entered my narrowing field of vision and fear snapped me out of my daze. The monster swung its tail across the ground in a giant arc that shattered all the objects in its way. For one horror filled moment I thought Fenris had been crushed by the attack until I saw that he had fallen, and his small size made the rocky tail pass right over him. _

_ Fenris shrieked and bolted for one of the other exits as the Onix struck where he was a moment ago. Cracks were beginning to appear in the ceiling from the behemoths thrashing. My eyes widened as I realized that if it kept this up the entire chamber would collapse and we would be crushed by the tons of rock above us. Concern for my little brother overrode my fear as I saw the small white figure huddled up in a small crevice in the wall, and the black mass of rock was slamming its head into the crevice repeatedly to try and crush him. Each strike of the monsters head against the wall made the whole chamber shake, and the cracks all over the area multiplied. Howling madly, I focused all my fear and rage and will to fight into a small sphere of energy in my mouth, attempting to do what I had failed at so many times. _

_ Against all the odds, a Shadow Ball formed in my mouth and I shot it at the Shadow Onix before anything had a chance to go wrong, performing the move correctly for the first time in my life. My aim was terrible and would have missed had the rock snake not been so huge. Instead of hitting the large boulders on its back like I had aimed, it hit the small ones right behind its massive skull by some divine chance. The explosion was pitiful, and for one horrifying moment I thought the Onix had not even felt it through its tough skin before it ceased its assault and spiraled around to face me. The quick feeling of victory I felt at my attack working was replaced with immediate dread and fear. Now I had its unrivaled attention._

_ It opened its mouth and roared with all the unnatural might of the Dark Matter infused within its defiled body and I was lifted off my feet in a blast of hurricane force wind and energy as the sheer force behind the simple roar tossed me like a rag doll into the wall behind me. Upon impact I felt my front left leg break and my vision was flooded with white, leaving me in a half conscious daze. Faintly I recalled my brother running past the Onix as he tried to reach me and the Onix struck with its tail. Somehow, my little brother dodged the attack, but the rocky tail kept going until it shattered a column of rock. A bundle of soft white fur barreled into me when he tripped when a shockwave echoed across the cavern and an avalanche of rock fell from the ceiling. _

_ Still dazed I wondered my none was falling on us until I realized after some time that somehow we had both ended up in one of the many passageways that lead out of the cave. This one was completely dark with no glowing crystals, but Dark types needed no light to see in the dark. Somewhere behind me, Fenris was hyperventilating with fear as he watched the Shadow Onix get buried under the tons and tons of rock. Scared out of his mind, he started shaking me until I yelled when he jarred my arm._

_ "God damnit Fenris, that hurts!" I cursed at him, and a moment later the hugged me making me hurt even worse._

_ "I thought you were dead, I was so scared!" he admitted. I realized at this point he had been crying. I instantly regretted yelling at him, he didn't know any better. The huge rock pile that had once been the Cavern shifted once and both of us exchanged a frightened glance before decided to leave quickly before it got up. With Fenris's help, I was able to limp out of the Cavern which lead back to the surface at a much easier slope. In what seemed like moments both of us were squinting against the daylight which burned at my eyes painfully from having been in the dark so long. I wanted to run and roll in the grass from having been underground for so long, but my front leg was broken. Together we started awkwardly limping home, Fenris already sporting a number of colorful bruises and I had to rely on him to walk on three legs. _

_Suddenly grinning hugely, he shot me a look and said._

_ "Told you this wasn't a good idea." With a smug grin._

_ "Shut up." I joked back, lifting my head and clacking our scythe shaped horns together in our own traditional way as we started laughing._

And then the dream dissolved into nothingness. I denied reality for a few moments and clung to the precious memories of my deceased brother, refusing to wake up and face the nightmare that the waking world had become. My gentle little brother with snow white fur from was dead, his body stolen by Dark Matter and made into a puppet of destruction. The cut across my chest from my fight with Fenris burned fiercely as a painful reminder of that fact. I should hate him, he killed mother and father and tried to kill me, but I couldn't. I couldn't stop seeing my little brother's innocent smile, even as I crossed blades with the monster he had become. Opening my itchy eyes to the bleak sky, I wondered if there really were great beings watching over us and the world, and why they would let something like this happen. If they were as powerful as the stories claim, why are the Legendaries not sweeping down to slay the Shadow Pokemon where they stand. Why do they just stand by and watch all this misery happen.

Sore muscles protested as I arched my back and stretched the pain in my ribs from my earlier fall returning fiercely. The sky was blanketed by a heavy layer of emotionless gray clouds, obscuring the sun and any warmth it might have offered. Ignoring the numbness in my paws I frustratingly searched for wherever the yellow rat had gone off to.

I found him asleep with his head propped up against a tree like he didn't have a care in the world. For a moment, I felt fury as I saw the contented smile on Piech's face. Did he know what it was like to see family members slaughtered and watch your only brother transformed into a ruthless monster? The puny brat probably didn't even have the foggiest idea of what grief is like, chances are he's never been unhappy his entire life. The injustice of it all set my teeth on edge. I roughly shoved the Pichu who grumbled groggily as he came to.

"Get up or be left behind." I grunted unsympathetically to the half asleep Pichu who was idiotically wondering who pushed him.

"Huh,… what?" He groaned, blinking a few times sleepily. I said nothing knowing he had heard me the first time and started walking, cold muscles complaining from the hard night. Piech rubbed his eyes and was motionless for a second before alarm showed on his face and he snapped awake and shouted,

"Hey wait for me!" and bounded forward on all fours to catch up. Stretching a yawning dramatically, I thought a I saw a few sparks go running down his short yellow fur as he followed me.

"So how'd you sleep? I don't know about you but I slept like a log, which is funny because logs can't sleep because they are not alive. Or they were, but now they aren't. I could really appreciate a warm den right now, its so cold outside, where's the sun when you need it anyway." Piech complained as he shifted to walking on his hind legs as if trying to mirror a human. Instead of answering his stupid question, I fixed a tall mountain into my field of vision. The kid had said that the rock in the cave was an unusual red color, the only real hint he had on where the elusive Legendary was. Half of what this kid spouted from his mouth was utter nonsense. However, it was all I had to go on right now, so I was stuck with this annoying brat until I could find the stupid cave.

"I always wanted to see Rust Canyon, I have heard so much about it in stories. Supposedly it cuts through the Kohaku plain for miles, and the rock along the edges of the sheer cliff is said to be a deep red color. Oh this is so exciting, I have heard that the Canyon had been carved out by the claws of Groudon himself, and…" Piech said, continuing to ramble on with useless facts about Rust Canyon, the good majority sounding completely made up. I seriously doubted it was the breeding grounds of dragon types from all across Mysteria and that the cliff was said to descend for miles with a red river forever flowing through the rock. Instead of listening to him talk, I was concentrating on trying to focus my energy back through the broken remains of my horn and awaken my sixth sense to predict danger. If this Kohaku plain was as big as the kid boasted, then I would need every warning I could get. In a flat grassland like that, there is no where to run from the Shadows. My concentration broke as I felt Piech tugging on my fur to get my attention.

"Hey Rikko, I'm hungry, can we stop and get some food, I can smell some berries over there." He whined, trying and failing to make a cute face. I grunted and said nothing, but somehow the kid took that as a 'yes' and ran off to find his supposed food source. I shook my head at the yellow idiots enthusiasm, wondering where he got all that energy. The sweet smell of berries lured me into the forest, but other tantalizing smells emanated all over the green landscape. I purposely tore my gaze from a small Pidgy pecking at the ground a short distance away. Despite my anatomy, the act of killing innocent small Pokemon for no reason other than to fill my stomach appalled me. Father always mocked me for this, saying I was weak and I needed to adapt along with the world in order to survive. Many of the larger and fiercer Pokemon in the world had turned into predators to adapt to the world, but I still found it hard to attack something unless I was completely starving. Magikarp didn't count, they weren't sentient.

Many of the smaller Pokemon scattered as I emerged from the undergrowth into a small clearing dominated by a fruit bearing tree. I saw the white tip of a brown furred tail dive into a bush as I approached, and a flight of Pidgy took flight. Smirking at how I now had this entire place to myself, I fired a blast of Razor Wind at a branch of the tree. Unfortunately for me, my ability to control the wind had been fractured along with my horn, and I was showered with sticky juice as my messy attack missed. Grunting in frustration, I tried again only to be rewarded with a few falling leaves. It took three goddamn tries to get one measly piece of fruit from the tree, which didn't even look worth the effort. I heard snickering behind me and turned to see Piech laughing at me, his face stained with multicolored berry juice. I shot a murderous glare at the yellow rat before claiming my hard earned prize and devouring it in several gulps.

A bloodcurdling scream suddenly sounded somewhere nearby as my horn suddenly became alerted to the presence of Dark Matter. Some poor soul is about to meet its maker. Before I could do anything, Piech suddenly leap to his puny feet and ran _toward the sound_. I glared in hostility and disbelief before charging after the utter and complete retard.

"The hell do you think your doing!" I shouted at him.

"What's it look like." He casually yelled back, his tone of voice sounding no different than when he was talking about Rust Canyon. I ground my teeth in frustration at the situation this fool was putting me in before charging in after the Pichu. If he got himself killed then I would never find Jirachi.

I emerged from the clearing to see a female Mightyena sprinting from a flock of Shadow Murkrow with a Poochyena pup in her mouth which couldn't have been over two weeks old. At a glance I could see her back was bloody from the repeated stabs of the flock, and the exhaustion in her stride showed she wouldn't stand a chance fighting them. Suddenly she tripped and crashed to the ground and her puppy went flying before landing with a squeak a few feet away. One of the three demonic birds suddenly lunged at the defenseless pup so fast it left an afterimage in its wake as it shot towards its target while the other two prepared to dissect the mother.

Piech suddenly dashed out from a bush and snatched the puppy up, barely dodging the spear-like beak that shot past him in a black blur. The idiot failed to see another one of the trio appear behind him with a move I recognized as Faint Attack. There was no time to think about what I was doing and threw caution and strategy to the wind as I sprang from the sidelines and attacked the birds. It was easily able to dodge my attack, but it gave Piech the chance to dodge the attack in front of him without being flanked. Opening my mouth, I lunged at the bird and only got feathers as it flew up and out of my reach. A beam of black with purple strands exploded on the ground in front of me, sheer instinct that made me dodge being the only thing that saved me.

Trusting instinct again, I slashed the air with my horn, trying to shoot a Razor Wind at the bird and cut it in half, but the attack was messy and uncontrolled and the blades swerved off and missed my target. An instant later I felt its talons rake across my back, my heavy and long fur cushioning some of the blow. Growling in anger and frustration, I opened my mouth and shot a Shadow Ball at the bird, once again missing my target. The bird was just too damn fast.

Little feet suddenly spring boarded off my shoulders as Piech jumped off me and latched on to the Murkrow and flooded electricity into it before being shaken off like a bothersome burr. I started to attack the already weakened bird when the third member of the trio flanked me with a Faint Attack, knocking the wind out of me. Shit, we were outnumbered and outclassed, to think that it would end this way.

I called upon the turmoil of emotions within me and let rage push itself to the surface, letting my hate of the Shadow Pokemon and my anger at my brothers fate drive me. I was not going to be killed by a bunch of fucking birds. I howled and shot Shadow Ball after Shadow Ball into the mob. The majority of my attacks missed, but a few got lucky and knocked a Shadow out of the sky to the ground. The few moments of chaos where all I needed to get the upper hand as I crouched and prepared to pounce and maul one of the fallen birds.

I was suddenly hit by a bolt of electicity, and all my muscles tightened and seizured painfully. The moment of pain lasted an instant before the convulsing stopped and my head felt a little fuzzy from the leftover shock.

"Sorry, my bad!" Apologized Piech from behind me as I watched with growing frustration as my window of opportunity closed as the Murkrow got up and flew out of my reach.

"I'm going to kill you for this!" I threatened as another set of talons grazed my face. They were trying to wear me out before closing in for the kill. I leapt to the side to dodge a Dark Pulse beam from the apparent ringleader of the gang. A quick high pitched cry of pain suddenly sounded behind me as another of the birds sliced Piech's arm. I jumped at the bird and managed to leave a small wound on its stomach with my horn before it flew out of my reach. Piech charged himself up and fired another bolt of electricity, but the airborn Shadows easily dodged it.

Piech was breathing hard from his third electrical attack, and I was beginning to feel beads of sweat run down my back. It would not be long before they wore down our endurance to the breaking point and they came in for the kill. An idea suddenly came to me. It was risky and ridiculous, but it might be our last chance. With a groan, I flopped on my stomach and started breathing hard, making it seem like I was at the end of my rope.

The largest bird took the bait and dove in for the kill, beak out in front of it like a spear as it descended on me. When it was too late for it to suddenly stop and pull up, I sprang at it and sliced with my blade like horn. The bird could not stop its momentum and was sliced open by my horn. It immediately cremated into ash like all Shadows do. The other two suddenly squawked in vengeance and dove at me. I tensed and prepared myself like before, unsure if I could take on two.

The Mightyena that had earlier been running jumped and caught one in its maw, dealing a fatal blow on the bird by crushing it with her canines as it clawed her face. Then Piech ran out in front of me and ninja kicked the bird with surprising agility, causing it to veer off course in its flight and crash to the ground. I was upon it before it could open its beak and ripped it to shreds. I was breathing hard for real now as I swayed a bit on my feet, my earlier outrage with the barrage of Shadow Balls taking their toll.

The Mightyena shot me and Piech a confused, but grateful glance before taking her pup in her mouth by the scruff and dashing away.

"Your welcome!" Piech shouted back with a smile, not fazed at all by the near death experience. I muttered ungratefully to myself, a 'Thank you for saving my life' or something would have been nice. Then again she did return the favor by taking out one of the birds. I promptly turned around and cuffed Piech in the face. Hard.

"Owww, what was that for?"

"For being a complete and utter idiot and nearly getting me freaking killed." I growled.

"Wait, are you talking about how I electrocuted you by mistake or how I got us into this situation." He asked with a grin.

"You figure it out." I scoffed and waited for the Pichu to get up. My cheek was stinging really painfully from the cut marks by the Murkrows talons. Damn idiot, what was he thinking, that he could be some king of hero? All he ended up doing was almost getting both of us killed. He shrugged and started walking and I hoped to any Legendary that was listening that he knew where he was going and we were not going in circles. About an hour later when the sun was about to set, the idiot was still blindly walking through the forest, but it was easy to tell through his slumped posture that he was almost out cold from exhaustion. For the first time, I felt a shred of respect at his willpower to never give up. That was, until he said the next sentence.

"Isn't that the rock we passed earlier?" he said pointing to an all too familiar rock formation that looked like a paw.

"You mean… you had no idea where you were going this whole time!" I growled through clenched teeth, tempted by the idea of decapitating the stupid mouse and going on my way.

"Maybe…" He said rightfully looking a bit nervous at my furious expression. I seriously contemplated shredding him for lying to me about knowing where he was going, but I was too tired to think about fighting again. As if this situation was not bad enough, it started to rain, soaking us to the bone in an instant. Now tired, wet, and very, very angry I glared at the Pichu with a furious expression while he opened his mouth to catch some rain, doing his best to avoid looking at me. There was tense silence for a while, until the kid spoke up again.

"We could take shelter in there." The kid said, pointing toward a bush. I grumbled at the thought of taking shelter inside of a plant but stormed over there anyway. To my surprise, there was a burrow cleverly hidden inside of the bush, and without hesitation I squeezed inside, getting dirt and mud all over my fur. Piech tumbled in after me, landing on his butt comically. My dark type eyes instantly adjusted to the dark light and saw that I was not alone. A small pair of eevee were huddled in the back of the burrow, shaking in fear slightly. The thought crossed me that I had intruded upon their home, but at the moment I couldn't care less, smirking at the utterly terrified expressions of the foxes.

I laid down to rest, nearly conking out instantly. The eevee wouldn't dare try anything as they were too scared of the powerful predator sleeping inside of their burrow, and made no conversation, which suited me fine. If felt a moment if envy looking at how the eevee were cuddled against each other, a pang of grief returning at the image.

Thunder boomed outside and I finally relaxed enough to rest. Distantly, I wondered if nightmares of my brother would come to haunt me again. I noticed Piech had not fallen asleep yet, and was watching the rain outside through the entrance, an unusual sad expression on his face. For the first time, I wondered what his motives were in trying to find Jirachi. Maybe he had lost someone as I had. Was grief his ultimate motive in life, or was it something else? Sheer exhaustion finally kicked in and sent me into a blissful state of unconsciousness.

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><p>Please Review if you liked this story so far!<p> 


	3. Chapter 3

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

**THE DYING WORLD**

Chapter three

_"No you don't do it like that, whip your head around like this!" I snapped, raising my white furred head and slashing at the air in a circular pattern. The air around be became agitated, and leaves and dust began to swirl up before colorless blades of air started dancing around me. With a final slice of my blade like horn, the blades merged into one, becoming a deadly arc of air that sliced through the vines and shrubs and kicking up a small whirlwind in its wake. With heavy controlled breaths I returned to my stance and glanced at Fenris, who was staring wide eyed at my skillfully executed razor wind attack._

_"It is not that hard, really. Just let your instincts guide you and the wind will answer your call." I explained, quoting the exact words that my father had given to me some time ago. As the eldest, I had learned the attack first, but dad…never bothered to even try to teach Fenris. Even mother at this point was disappointed with Fenris's utter lack of skill. Picking himself up off the ground, he gritted his teeth and tried again, a look of concentration on his face as he whipped his blade like horn around, desperately trying to get the wind to answer his call. A leaf swirled in the air for a brief time, and that was it. _

_"Its no use, I can't do it…" He cried, sulking down in the grass, breathing heavily from his numerous attempts to control the wind. Wordlessly I sat down next to him, offering him comfort by simply being here, rather than storming off like father had so many times. I had seen Fenris practicing in the middle of the night until he was dead exhausted, to see him give up like this was unnerving._

_"Some of us are just slow learners, you'll get it eventually-" _

_"SHUT UP! It is just so goddamn easy for you to learn it, stop rubbing it in my face!" He suddenly snarled, a furious expression on his face and he stood up as if about to attack. I jerked back, shocked at Fenris's sudden outburst. I had never seen him mad before, not once in my entire life. In a moment though he calmed down and looked sad._

_"Sorry Rikko, I shouldn't have snapped like that." He apologized, looking down at his paws. My expression softened immediately, it was hard to stay mad at Fenris for any length of time. Before I could say anything though, there was a sound of snarling before a torrent of red hot pain washed across my side, easily throwing me to the ground. I saw Fenris cower before an approaching Houndoom and his two Houndhour lackeys in tow._

_"What r' you pups doing on our land?" The hellhound snarled, a few embers trailing from his mouth. The two Houndhours behind him looked viscous, like they were ready to kill at a moments notice._

_"But we have owned this territory since-" Fenris started before the Houndoom brutally swiped his foreleg across his muzzle, whapping him to the ground with a thud._

_"This is our territory now." The Houndoom proclaimed, and I saw an insane look in his eye, like someone drunk on their own feeling of power. Rage at him striking Fenris in such a way built in my chest, and I summoned all the energy I could muster and shot it in a sphere of condensed energy. The Houndoom leapt to the side, easily evading the Shadow Ball attack, and instead exploded against the face of the unsuspecting hound behind him. I didn't have a chance to form another before the Houndoom was in my face. I screamed with pain when its teeth latched into my back before hurling me in the air. _

_"Die you pathetic pup." It snarled as I hit the ground with a thud, knocking all the breath out of me. This was not right, what was going on. Looking closer I saw that the Houndoom's eyes were cut in half by a slash of blood red in the pupil, and a faint purple aura was visible in the sunlight. Dark Matter was slowly infecting the Houndoom, driving him insane with bloodlust and power. This was not good, really not good. I had fought a Shadow Pokemon before, but my father and mother had been with me at the time and it was no where near as strong as this Houndoom was. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Fenris stir, and before I could utter a warning one of the Houndhour leapt on him, trying to grab him in its mouth._

_My vision spun as I was struck by the hellhound in a full body tackle, skidding me across the ground. A faint static of Black Lightning was beginning to show itself as the sun was sinking lower and lower on the horizon. This Pokemon would never survive the night with the amount of Dark Matter that was tearing at it, and night was rapidly approaching. I coughed a thick glob of blood and rose to my feet, sticking my blade like horn out in case the incomplete monster decided to try and tackle me again. Instead, it opened its mouth and shot a pillar of fire at me. I ducked to dodge it and used the crouch to spring myself forward and slice at the hound with my horn. It howled as it was struck, but little blood fell from the wound. I saw an expression of pure, unrivaled hatred in its now blood red eyes before it rammed its crested forehead into mine._

_I staggered back from the pain of the head butt, but the hound lurched forward and snapped at the spot where my head had been a moment earlier. I leapt back to dodge, feeling something rip and pain went through my side as its fangs grazed me. _

_I stumbled and fell, landing hard on my chest at an awkward angle._

_The monster howled in victory and leapt forward, opening its now deformed jaws to kill me. I heard it that howl its last cry as a living being, it was no longer alive, the life that was still burning in it when we met was gone, it was now a Shadow Pokemon, infused with the power of Dark Matter. I closed my eyes, waiting for the end. There was a gut wrenching noise and a yip of alarm before I dared to look up, fearing for the worst. _

_Fenris was standing in front of me, his blade like horn had impaled the Houndoom with its own momentum. With a toss of his head, he yanked the blade out from its stomach, letting the corpse fall to one side with a sickening sound. For a few moments the only sound was that of Fenris's labored breathing before he looked back at me._

_"Rikko, are you okay?" He exclaimed rapidly, dashing forward and nudging me repeatedly while I yowled in protest. Surprisingly, I had no life threatening injuries, although my burned side was hurting far worse than the bite wounds on my neck and back. Fenris looked worse for the wear though, he was covered in scratched and bite marks. It took me a moment to realize he had to fight off the Houndhour before he could even do anything. His pure white fur was dirty and stained with blood. I stood up, refusing to act injured while Fenris was hurt more than I was. At least his fur wasn't burned, it would take me weeks to replace my white fur where I got hit by the fire. _

_Grinning with our victory, we raised our scythe shaped horned together and clacked them together, like we always do. The happy moment immediately died when a loud voice suddenly shouted across the clearing._

_"Get over here now!" Demanded my father who suddenly appeared out of no where. I saw concern in his eyes when he looked at me, and distain when he looked at Fenris. _

_"Fenris, how could you! Playing out in the woods and nearly getting your brother killed in the process, You-"_

_"Dad stop, it wasn't his fault, the Houndoom appeared out of no where, Fenris saved me, I would be dead right now if he wasn't here!" I shouted, angry at my dad's refusal to see the situation. Fenris was hurt bad, and all he cared about was the fact that I got a little scratched. Fenris did most of the fighting, it wasn't fair._

_"Be quiet Rikko, I will talk to you next." He growled, approaching Fenris who was cowering on the ground, looking scared, hurt, and ashamed all at once._

_"Dad-"_

_"RIKKO!" He shouted back in the tone that I was to leave. I tried to stand my ground, but my fathers furious gaze shredded any intention of rebelling away. I cast an apologetic glance to Fenris who shot me an "Its okay." Look before I turned and ran away, tears in my eyes._

_A moment later I heard him strike Fenris across the face with a paw, claws sheathed. I turned and ran away, unable to bear the injustice any longer. Throughout it all…Fenris never even said a word…_

The rain had stopped, everything was deathly silent. Reluctantly I opened my eyes to the darkness of the underground burrow we had taken shelter in for the storm. The two eevee occupants had made their escape already, probably scared of the predator sleeping in their burrow. I could care less, life wasn't fair, I was an Absol and they were eevee. If I got hungry, they were as fair game as anything. I looked up and stretched, arching my back and triggering the dulled pain in my ribs again. The dirt had become muddy and sticky with the rain, matting my fur coat annoyingly. A vague, drifting thought made me wonder why I was still living.

What did I have to look forward to save death and bloodshed? What did this dying world have left of offer that would make everything seem right and pure again? What reason was there left for us to live?

I had no answer for this, and that was why I hated Piech. Why was he so unreasonably happy, it made no sense? I found the brat still fast asleep near the entrance of the burrow, his head slumped against the wall in a manner that made it look like he had stayed up until he dropped watching the sky. I walked up to the sleeping mouse and wondered for a brief second what had made him fall asleep with such a sad expression on his face. Then again, why did I care, I didn't need him, I didn't need anyone anymore.

I stormed out of the small underground shelter and glanced at the bleak and emotionless sky above, looking for the sun to find my direction but the warmth and light of the sun was unseen through the heavy layer of gray clouds that blotted the horizon. I grunted and fixed my eyes on a distant mountain range with jagged peaks that rose to the sky like teeth. From there I would be able to see for miles, and with it, I could find Rust Canyon, where Jirachi was supposedly waiting to grant a wish to anyone who could find her. In the distance I caught a whiff of smoke and ash, but it was faded and aged like before. Why did I care anyway, the whole world could burn for all I care, nothing mattered anymore.

"Fenris…" I sighed, trying and failing to let the memories I held in the depths of my heart cause me anguish. Still I saw Fenris as the pure, smiling brother I remembered, refusing to accept the corrupted monster that had taken his place. Why, out of all the Pokemon in existence, did he have to become a Shadow Pokemon? Why?

I slashed at the bark of a nearby tree in anger, leaving deep gouges in the wood with my claws. Anger felt better, it was an emotion I could deal with, unlike the grief still lodged deep in my chest where one says your heart is, underneath the burning scar that my brother had given me days ago during our fight. Again in a rage I struck at the tree, bruising the pads on my paws and sending pain down my arm. Bits and pieces of bark flew as I roared in agony as struck again, but this time one of my claws caught on the bark and was ripped out of its socket. The pain forced me to stop raging, and I noticed Piech for the first time standing behind me with a wide eyed expression of shock.

"Rikko…are you okay"

"What the hell are you gaping at huh!" I challenged and stormed off. The brat still followed me, a look of genuine concern on his face. Why couldn't he just leave me alone? He was useless and annoying and I just wanted to be alone right now. The sun should be high in the sky by now, but it still felt cold without an ounce of sunlight or warmth.

"Piech…why are you still following me?" I growled, refusing to make eye contact and acknowledge the stupid mouse that was walking right behind me.

"We are both searching for Jirachi and going all alone is no fun. Besides we are partners now, like the dynamic duo-"

"Why can't you just stop following me, go find someone else to annoy. Why are you even searching for Jirachi in the first place, it doesn't look like you are suffering? What more could you want, you have a family you probably ditched and-"

"I didn't ditch my family!" Piech suddenly shouted, looking furious as my accusations and puffed up his chest as if to make himself bigger.

"Are they dead?" I demanded.

"No…"

"Then what are you so upset about huh, my family is DEAD! That's why I am searching for her, because I want to bring them back….You wouldn't understand." I declared. At the last bit, he suddenly looked sad, and furious at the same time.

"You don't think I know what it is like to be all alone, you think I don't understand what it is like to lose everything-"

"No, I don't!" I interrupted. I glared at the Pichu, but he stood his ground.

"So let me ask you this then, you think getting Jirachi to bring a few people back to life will suddenly make everything right again? Have you ever thought she only grants your hearts desire, not simply what you ask for!"

"What would you know!" I yelled, standing to face him as if I was about to attack. For some reason those words had more effect on him than anything else, and he started to cry. For some reason, I felt guilty about breaking his happy disposition and felt like it would be wrong to just run off right now. Why was this happening to me, I would have had no problem ditching him before?

"Come on, we have to go!" I said harshly and started walking. The yellow mouse wiped his eyes and started following me again, but kept his distance. I cursed myself, earlier I would have had no problem ditching him, why did I feel so bad for making him cry now?

"Life isn't sugar and rainbows kid, get over yourself." I growled without looking back.

"It is if you can be strong enough to make it. Being sad all the time…doesn't change anything. They say life is not about what happens to you, but what you do about it. I want to live a happy life, so I won't regret anything when someone kills me one day. If I spend all my time just moping around in sadness like you are…then what do I have to live for…" He said, talking slowly and sadly.

"Fighting without hope is not a way to live, its only a way to die." He said, looking at the ground in front of him. I spun around to face him, glaring at his stupid ideals.

"Hope? There is no hope Piech, we are going to die, and nothing is going to change that. The Legendaries have turned away and life itself has become nothing but a constant war for survival until the day we die. Where is your supposed hope?"

"If you don't have hope, then make it." He said suddenly in a strong tone of voice, and without warning a bolt of electricity struck me, and I was flung a distance away. Yelling, I jumped to my feet and charged the Pichu, slashing at his small frame with my broken blade horn. He aptly ducked under my swipe and made his tail glow silver. With a spin, he used the flat of his tail to knock my legs out from under me. My jaw hit the ground hard, and I grunted and charged up a Shadow Ball attack and blasted him point blank with it, sending him skidding across the ground.

"Where is your hope Piech? Why do you still want to live!" I challenged, watching him pick himself off the ground with effort.

"I will continue living until I have found that hope and lived my life to its fullest, and nothing is going to change that." He declared strongly, but I could tell he was hurting pretty badly and didn't want to have to keep fighting. I growled and prepared to strike again when Piech suddenly held out his hand and said,

"Lets find that hope together, even if it means tracking down Jirachi from the ends of Mysteria. We only have five days left." He said. For a long time I said or did nothing until I grunted and said.

"Whatever Piech…." And started walking. I only got a few steps before Piech had dashed to my side again, wearing his huge grin like always.

"Glad to hear it, by the way sorry about your jaw it looks like you are going to bruise. A lot can be done in five days, they say it only took Arceous seven days to create the world and everything we see. I have always wanted to see a legendary, they are like so…epic. Those eevee from before were pretty cute, I bet they were just mated and we intruded upon their home. Too bad we weren't interrupting anything if you know what I mean…"

I sighed and cursed myself for the millionth time, wondering why I never killed this brat to begin with. He changed subjects and moods faster than a Kelcon could change colors. The words he had spoken carried weight in my mind, because despite my dislike for the annoying yellow mouse, I knew he was right. Fighting without hope was not a way to live, it is only a way to die. Again I smelled ash on the wind, and I stopped for a moment to pinpoint its origin. It was likely a human village or community that had been attacked by the Shadow Pokemon. There was a chance that one of the building with a sturdier foundation would have survived the attack, and it would make a good place to recuperate and sleep. The smell of ash would mask our scent to the Shadow Pokemon. Then again, it could just be a forest fire and I was thinking about it too much. I noticed vaguely that Piech had finally stopped yammering, but the silence was setting my nerves on edge. There was absolutely no sound, not even the whisper of wind on the grass.

"Why are you seeking a wish from Jirachi, Piech?" I asked, trying for once to figure out the motives that were driving the brat. He looked up and smiled, and for the first time I wondered if that smile was a mask to hide from the sadness he was keeping inside.

"I don't know, I will think of something when I get there. I have always wanted to see the world, see all the wonders of Mysteria and live a life worth living. I guess…if we ever find Jirachi…my wish would already be granted."

"So then…why are you…you know, not with your family?" I asked, wondering why he was all alone. When I bumped into him those few days ago, there was absolutely no one for miles. Why was he out in the wilderness, seeking adventure when he was just a kid.

For a long time Piech didn't answer, and he looked down at his feet, his mask of false happiness utterly shattered. I said nothing, not caring if he decided not to answer, after all, why did I care about the yellow brat. I glanced up to see the sky had darkened considerably, adding to the feeling of misery that Piech was giving off. I suddenly realized Piech had stopped walking, now staring at the ground with tears in the corner of his eyes.

"When you live in a big family…its easy for one to get left behind…"

For the first time since my brother had technically died, I had no angry insult or anything ready to say, I was struck speechless. It made sense, if his family was attacked and he was lost…they wouldn't risk the safety of everyone for one lost little Pichu.

"I don't know where they are, they could be on the other side of Mysteria for all I know. I don't care anymore anyways…its not like it would make a difference weather or not I was gone they never cared anyways…." He trailed off, and sat down on his butt, scrunching up his face trying not to cry. I knew what it was like to have a family killed right before your eyes, but it must be ever worse to have a large loving family…and feel left out even with everything. To be so casually forgotten must be a worse wound than being hated…like my brother…

"I'm sorry…" I said, now regretting saying to Piech that he didn't understand. Maybe it was me who didn't understand. After all this, Piech was still trying to act like nothing is wrong, so he can fool himself into being happy.

"There is some shelter ahead, lets keep going." I said and started walking, but Piech was not following me. For a second I was tempted to just ditch him and go on ahead, but that would be torturous to the small Pichu, being abandoned and left behind twice.

"Piech…"

"I'm coming Rikko, just give me a minute." He said, wiping his eyes and hoping off the ground. I noticed he was trying not to make eye contact as if he was trying to hide the fact that he had been crying. Still trying to be the hero, again. We started walking while Piech dove into a subject about how one of his friends had supposedly been struck by lighting while sleeping in a tree and evolved into a Raichu. It sounded ridiculous to me, then again, they could actually _survive_ being struck by lighting. In fact, I am sure Piech might enjoy it.

We both froze when we saw what lay before us. The smoldering ruins of a large human village, the embers still fresh and red in the dark. With an exchanged glance, we stepped onward, and the gruesome display of destruction and gore opened up before us...

* * *

><p>This chapter has been cut off because I decided to save what is comming for chapter 4. I tried not to do this, because I believed that good writing will attract readers and I didn't want to sound selfish, but I know there are alot more people reading this than it says on the reviews. Getting feedback from my readers inspires me to write and update, and with the amount of effort it takes to update each chapter of this story and maintain the level of writing, it hurts that this story is somewhat neglected. So please, if you like this story, don't just go away, review or follow this story, I have a lot in store for you. Tell others about this story...anything you can do will be appreciated. And for everyone who read enough of the story to get this far, thank you and I will not dissapoint with the upcoming chapters in the future.<p>

~Last Warrior 7


	4. Chapter 4

Pokemon Mystery Dungeon

**THE DYING WORLD**

Chapter Four

The silence that greeted us was even worse than the horrible display of destruction and carnage. The smell of corpses and ash was in the air, so strongly that it was almost tangible, and the ruins of all the structures were completely blackened and destroyed. All of them, razed to the ground with the sole exception of the burned out husks of a few of the stone buildings. Piech's eyes were as wide as saucers as he looked upon the scene, and for the first time I wondered if this was the true extent of the word, destruction.

The ashes and rubble continued as far as the eye could see in front of us. Even some of the gigantic steel buildings that once must have triumphed over the mountains in their height were collapsed and shattered. Everything was broken, useless, destroyed…killed. The cracked stone streets of the city were littered with corpses of both humans and Pokemon. Died blood encrusted the ground like algae, and the smell of it all was suffocating. For once, Piech was struck completely speechless as he looked upon the miles and miles of ashes.

There were even kids among the corpses.

_"This is all…so wrong."_ I thought, unable to comprehend the amount of murder and wreckage that had taken place here. Even Piech, who was always so optimistic and brave in the face of horrors like this, was shocked to the core. He wasn't as detached as he made himself out to be with his fake enthusiasm, he felt the horrors too. This world was wrong, something had to change, but…how? I put on a farce of not caring, pushing aside the shock in my mind until time had dulled its edge some more, and focused on sensing the area in case there were monsters waiting for us in this…graveyard.

"I can't sense any Shadows, so we can pass through safely." I said, starting to walk forward and Piech suddenly jolted as if awakening from a nightmare and followed me. All the Dark Matter in the air was the aftermath of the destruction, but I knew that no Shadow would stay here for long. Any and all signs of life, were gone. This place was devoid of everything save the crumbling reminders of the massacre that had taken place here. Some areas had cracks in the stone large enough for me and Piech to walk through side by side without touching. I shuddered to think of the immense amount of power that had leveled this place. What chance did we have against such ferocity and strength, is this the beginning of the end? I thought back painfully to how Fenris gained so much power when the Dark Matter took over his mind, feeling again the sting of the cut on my chest from his blade. How can we fight such a phenomena, when our own comrades and family could turn against us and kill us in our sleep. How could we possibly hope, when it seems like all there is waiting for us is death and destruction.

How can we ever hope to win, against something like this?

"Rikko…do you think there are any…" He said, unable to choke out the word, survivors, because he already knew the answer. I said nothing, not caring to answer his question when it was so painfully obvious. Everything here was blackened and charred, nothing could have survived the fire that must have ravaged this place. We passed through the wreckage in silence, the only sound that could possibly be heard was the crunching of our own footsteps on the ash ridden ground.

"Hey Rikko…" Piech hesitantly asked, rightfully fearing a sudden strike or similar with the command to be quiet. The deathly and eerie silence was too much for me, I stopped walking through the ravine in the stone street we were in and looked at Piech with an uncaring glare.

"What?"

"Whatever happened to your family, why are you all alone. Surely you must have someone left?" He asked innocently. I looked away, pawing at the earth in the side of the ravine and breaking loose a few chunks with my claws.

"Dead." I simply answered, saying the same thing I had said about my family earlier, when Piech and I got into an argument. I still didn't believe in his silly ideals of hope, but he had something to live for. I had…nothing…except regret.

"Were you all attacked by Shadows, is that why you were injured when we met?" He said, keeping a careful tone on his voice as if to try and avoid offending me, which wasn't working in the least. Yet somehow, I felt compelled to answer, maybe I had spent too much time around the yellow rat.

"My dad was not the kind of parent you would expect. He was always demanding, pushing us, teaching…He wanted us to continue fighting the Shadows until the day we die, just like he wanted to. To him, this war is our own, and we have to fight it, not letting anything else come before that…" I said, pushing away bitter memories of my father mercilessly training me for hours on end just so that I could be another tool in this war. I…couldn't say I hated him…but…

"But that's so wrong, if you live to do nothing but fight until you are killed yourself, that makes you no better than the Shadows. At least they don't know any better, they are primal beasts just bent on destruction and murder. We are Pure, not because we have no Dark Matter controlling our thoughts, but because we have life. We live for more than that." He said and then coughed from a sudden cloud of ash before continuing.

"What makes us different is because we can do more than fight, we have more to live for, we are not primal beasts."

"Shut up Piech." I grunted, really getting annoyed by his sudden dramatic speech he was yelling about.

"Don't you get it, people who just live to fight have nothing to live for. They are pretty much Shadows already, without all the creepy powers and red eyes." He insisted, and then it got really quiet while I let the words sink in. He was right, what did I have to live for beyond gutting open Shadows day in and day out until the day one of them kills me. What can I accomplish in my life, if I just dedicate myself to fighting an endless swarm of evil? But then again…am I just supposed to spend my life on the run, forever fleeing in fear. I refuse to go down that path, I want to change the world, and the only way to do that is to fight.

"_If you don't devote yourself entirely to the ways of the blade, then your edge will get rusty and dull, and not serve you when the time to defend what you hold dear comes. That is why we fight."_

That was my father's guideline, his hope, his dreams. To keep fighting against the shadows. I never understood why he tried so hard, now I see it was because he did care, but couldn't live the life he wanted and be able to protect what he loved. I clenched my claws into the ground, scraping together some bits of rock under my paw. Despite everything, I just couldn't forgive father for what he was constantly putting Fenris through, that part, marred my memory of him.

I was the prodigy, the favored son. Mother and Father always gave me praise, I was the example they wanted for their son, to carry on their name. Fenris, when he was named, was expected to be even better than me, but it was not so. My brother was small, kind, compassionate. He didn't like fighting unless it was absolutely necessary, and never once stood up to father. When I look back upon it, I realize it was because he was ashamed too. What did he have to show, beyond a gentle spirit and a pure white coat of fur. He wanted to be great, and was never able to achieve on the same level as I was. But even with all this, we were inseparable as brothers. Why didn't he hate me, I sometimes thought when I did nothing but hide in the face of fathers fury. He was courageous, and having known my brother so well, it must have been impossible for him to actually hate someone. He was too kind, to everyone, even father, who saw his son as a failure.

Why did Fenris become a Shadow, it never made any sense to me. There was only reality, in which my gentle brother was now a black furred aberration that had finally surpassed me in strength. Sometimes I wished it could have been reversed, it wasn't fair. It didn't make sense, why Fenris?

A feral screech sounded in the sky somewhere far away. I turned my gaze skyward, but there was no giant black shape in the gray sky, and so I ignored the piercing call. I quickly revised my earlier statement. There could be shadows here, and with all the Dark Matter leftover in the air it would make it very difficult to find them. Still the odds of them staying in a place like this were slim to none. I resumed my pace through the wasteland of ruin, with Piech following close behind. The silence lasted only for a few moments.

"So then…what happened? Was your father away on a battle or something and get killed? What about your mother? Was she a fighter too, and did you have any siblings. Were you all attacked on day and you were the only one to make it our alive, that would explain why you look so…I don't know mean, closed off, antisocial. I mean if your family was attacked then you obviously would feel alone and hurt, but you don't need to be downright mean to people. I lost my family too, am I moping all around and acting like I hate the world-  
>"Piech shut up." I growled. He took a step back, and looked to be in deep thought for a moment until he suddenly said.<p>

"Someone in your family turned into a Shadow, didn't they."

I said nothing, not knowing what I could have said that would lead him to such a conclusion. Piech accurately took my silence as an answer.

"My brother…" I said, then starting to walk again, with Piech following closely behind.

"I get it now…" he said, and I turned my head towards him, curious.

"You're upset because you were really close to your brother, and the shock of him suddenly becoming a Shadow and killing your family is so great, and yet you don't even know how to handle it. You want to hate him, to take revenge, strike him down like the shadow he is. And yet you still love him as a brother, and can't possibly commit to fighting him, even as a Shadow. Maybe that's why you were injured when we met, because you couldn't kill him, and nearly died in a fight with him." Piech said, his bright disposition and smile never fading the whole time, as if he was simply explaining the rules of a game rather than analyzing me to the core. It slightly shocked me, not because Piech was actually a lot smarter than he came across,

But because he was right. I couldn't commit myself to the ideal of revenge, even after what Fenris did to mom and dad. An image of mom's decapitated body and dad torn into multiple pieces suddenly flashed in my mind, and I desperately tried to distract myself from it. In the distance, I heard the heavy boom of thunder, and noticed for the first time it might be getting darker.

"There is a shelter here, the building still looks pretty sound, although it won't do much against the wind." Piech said, pointing towards a crumbling structure that had an intact roof, but was still missing a wall and had many large holes and cracks.

"Go head, I'm just going to take a look around." I said, fumbling for an excuse to be off on my own, and not even knowing why the hell I was making one in the first place, I didn't need to explain myself to Piech.

"Okay, bring back some food!" He enthusiastically called out to me as I started to walk away, and for some reason I smirked at his enthusiasm. He didn't appear to be as afraid of being ditched again, but it would not be wise to mess with that fear. Piech was a lot like me in this situation, alone, and conflicted. Only he was handling it differently, I'm not sure if his approach was better however.

I only saw more of the same horrible destruction, and the dark clouds overhead were starting to cover the sky like an infection. I didn't care about the rain, right now, I just felt like walking. It wasn't out of any dislike for Piech, as much as his curiousness and his rabid speech got on my nerves. I needed to find an answer.

To what I would do f I encountered Fenris again.

If I was alone, then I would have to option of either hiding and fleeing or confronting him. But with Piech involved things became more complicated. Fenris could easily kill him, as agile as swift as he was, my brother would cleave him in two with that Dark Matter attack of his. Furthermore, Piech might actually challenge Fenris, the fool seemed to have no limits of courage or common sense. If that were to happen, would I be able to kill Fenris, even to save Piech.

_"Brother, can't we play today?"_

I still couldn't picture him as a monster, even now.

I froze, wondering for a second if I had really heard something or if it was just wishful thinking. A soft squeal or whimper in the silence of the devastation.

I heard it again ,that pitiful squeak so silent it was barely audible. I looked around, but all that was revealed was the blackened skeleton of the city's remains. I must be imagining things, nothing could have survived the terrible fire that had destroyed everything in its path. Even the bodies were charred here, and the smell made me gag if I got too close. I turned my attention to the shattered remains of a house, digging though a bit of the debris even though I knew that I would not find anything. Straining my claws, I removed a giant wooden board that nearly collapsed on me, and the clear yet rancid smell of spoiled water assaulted my senses. Confused, I looked around, trying to find the source of the smell because it did not originate in the ruined pile of debris. Water was rare, if there was running water somewhere that would be an even greater miracle than food. At the mention of it, a pang of hunger started in my stomach. What was I doing here? We needed to get out of this asphalt wasteland-

I heard it again, more of a whimper than a squeal this time, and I saw a peculiar hole in the ground surrounded by ruined stonework that I had somehow missed the first time. It was obviously a well, I could see the broken stonework around its edges from where the destruction had ravened it too. I padded forward to the well, the rancid smell getting stronger until I peered down the edge of the pitfall.

In the small puddle of water that was left inside the well, there was a small brown fox huddled up and shivering in the semi darkness. It appeared to be still alive, that alone was a shock. I bunched my hind legs and jumped.

The rancid smell intensified the instant I jumped down, and I landed with a small splash in the shallow puddle, my claws sinking into the disgusting mush underneath. The eevee lurched upright, its eyes huge with fear when my sudden entry startled it. I could practically smell its fear as it saw me, completely petrified at the sight of me. There were gouges in the walls from scrabble marks, it had probably fallen down the well hand had been unable to jump high enough to escape.

I took a step forward, and saw for the first time the poor terrified creatures state. The eevee's legs were bone thin, and I could see all of its ribs and the bones of its spine on the fox's back. Even the eevee's fur was faded, smeared with grime and falling out in patches. I understood now why it was so scared, and yet not trying to bolt. It couldn't, even if it wanted to trapped in the well and starving. I felt a deep sense of pity for the starving eevee watching me with big eyes filled with fear. I must look akin to death itself to the little thing, and it was hopelessly trapped and weak.

I took a few steps toward the small terrified girl, and she closed her eyes in fear when I got close, making herself small but knowing it was useless to do anything. It was somewhat easy to tell she was a girl through her body shape, although she was frightfully thin. I stared at the helpless form in front of me, and made my decision.

I reached down and carefully grasped her scruff in my teeth, feeling her tense when she felt my teeth on her neck, expecting me to kill her and offering no resistance. I lifted her easily off the ground, she seemed to weigh nothing at all. The small eevee dangled limply in my grip while I bunched my legs and jumped, failing to catch the lip of stone at the entrance of the well. Re adjusting my grip on the eevee's scruff to make it easier for me, I jumped again, and this time my hind legs caught a crack in the stone for a foothold and I painstakingly pulled myself out of the well. The fresh air was a relief from the horrible air in the well. A fat raindrop hit my back, and I started making my way back to the shelter, carrying the eevee.

She remained utterly limp, never even making a peep as I carried her maybe a little too roughly. She was way too light, how long had she been trapped in the well to come to such a state. It was pitiful, she was utterly helpless. If I had arrived a day later, she would most likely be dead with how terrible her condition was. The rain picked up quickly, and the sky opened up on us as I walked. I smelled where Piech was before I saw it, somehow he had managed to find some food in this asphalt desert.

"Hey your back, did you bring some f-" he started to say, and was silenced when he saw the eevee I was carrying. Strongly he regarded me with suspicious before a look of genuine concern crossed his face and then something close to panic. My fur, and that of the small eevee's was utterly soaked now by the rain.

"Oh my, Arceous, who is that!" he exclaimed while I set her down inside the shelter. She didn't move, but looked scared with all the sudden attention, and the fact that we were both crowding her. I finally recognized the smell I had caught as Oran berries, where in the world did he find food? It didn't matter, I shot Piech a command to give her some space, and hooked an Oran berry on my claws. Piech followed my command and backed up a bit. The eevee obviously wasn't going to bolt, and was staying put right where I left her, making herself small with uncertainty and fear.

I could almost see the hunger in the kits eyes when she saw the berry, but made no move for it, still afraid. I gave her the berry, and backed off a bit to give her space. She looked at me, then the food laid out in front of her before moving slowly forward on her weak and thin legs and tearing into it. Piech was oddly being silent through the whole ordeal.

The kit had made it though half the large blue fruit before suddenly retching and puking to the side. Piech made a face, at it, but still said nothing, probably trying his best not to scare her. Figures, you can't starve to the brink of death then suddenly feast. She looked uncertainly at me, unsure of my motives.

"Just eat it." I grumbled, frustrated for no reason whatsoever. She started to tear into it again, although more slowly than before.

"Take it easy, we won't take it away from you. What's your name?" Piech said in a coaxing voice. The kit, well, I didn't know how old she was and it was really hard to tell right now, didn't say anything but stared blankly at me even though it was Piech who spoke. She made herself small when I looked at her almost like she was nervous. I looked at Piech for help, but he shrugged. The rain was really pouring down now, and I snatched some food right out from Piech's hands and ate a bit, making sure to leave a little for Piech and the eevee girl. Didn't move much from where I set her, but crawled into a corner when she had eaten her fill and curled up pitifully, watching me alone with big eyes before conking out.

Asleep, she looked even more helpless, and even a little cute despite the awful state she was in with her fur falling out and bones visible through her fur. I wasn't sure yet if she was going to live, but at least now she had a chance.

I looked at Piech, and he was lying on his back looking at the sky outside, brooding to himself. I said nothing, content to let Piech have his time to get his feelings of sorrow out, without having to shove back on a mask. I spared another glance at the little kit, before laying down to sleep myself. I don't know why I had saved her, I just did, and it felt right.

For once, nightmares about my demented brother did not torment me in my sleep. Even in the despair that I, Piech, and even the small kit was wading though, there was a deep sense of peace tonight. Is this what Piech meant by hope, even though I knew that morning would bring only more suffering and trials, that I was willing to face them. in the sense to keep living, maybe Piech was stronger than me.

Thunder roared outside, but I didn't hear it. Everything was calm, and before I knew it the sweet nothingness of sleep had come for me at last, for the first time in so long…


End file.
